Method and apparatus for minimizing ground water contamination at a construction site by utilizing high density population of tool cleaning stations

ABSTRACT

A system for minimizing storm water contamination in a residential subdivision utilizes a high population density of portable toilets and of paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool washing stations, and, utilizes paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool washing stations as ballast in combination with portable toilets to stabilize the portable toilets.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for minimizing ground water contamination.

More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for minimizing storm water contamination by sewage and by toxic and non-toxic construction materials including paint and dry wall paste.

One source of storm water contamination at construction sites is sewage that escapes from portable toilets (i.e., “J-Johns”) that are capsized by wind or other means and that consequently spill sewage on the ground.

Another source of storm water contamination at construction sites consists of paints, dry wall compound, and other construction materials that are washed on to the ground by construction workers when the workers clean paint brushes and other construction tools.

The foregoing sources of storm water contamination are significant and have led the EPA to enact progressively more stringent rules concerning storm water contamination at construction sites.

Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus to minimize storm water contamination at construction sites.

Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus to prevent contaminates from reaching storm water.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus at construction sites for utilizing portable toilets and for cleaning construction tools.

These and other, further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the following detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a tool washing station constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view further illustrating the tool washing station of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating the desired equivalent foot prints of a tool washing station of FIG. 1 and of an associated portable toilet;

FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating the interconnection of the skids of a tool washing station of FIG. 1 and of an associated portable toilet;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view illustrating the interconnection of a tool washing station of FIG. 1 to a portable toilet to serve as ballast for the toilet and to facilitate the cleaning of tools at a construction site; and,

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a construction subdivision illustrating the high density population distribution of tool washing stations in accordance with the invention.

Briefly, in accordance with the invention, I provide an improved construction subdivision to minimize contamination of storm water by paint on tools that are utilized during construction. The subdivision extends over an area of at least five; includes at least one building structure under construction in the subdivision; includes an average portable toilet density of at least one portable toilet per acre; includes an average high density population of paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning stations of at least one station per acre. Each of the paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning stations includes a sink; a fresh water tank; a waste water tank; a faucet in fluid communication with the fresh water tank; and, a foot operated pump to direct water from the fresh water tank to the sink.

In another embodiment of the invention, I provide a construction subdivision to minimize contamination of storm water. The construction subdivision extends over an area of at least five acres; includes at least one building structure under construction in the subdivision; includes an average portable toilet density of at least one portable toilet per acre. Each of the portable toilets including ballast comprising a paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning station. The paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning station includes a sink; a fresh water tank including at least two hundred pounds of water; a waste water tank; a faucet in fluid communication with the fresh water tank; and, a pump to direct water from the fresh water tank to the sink.

Turning now the drawings, which depict the presently preferred embodiments of the invention for the purpose of illustration thereof, and not by way of limitation of the invention, and in which like characters refer to corresponding elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a tool wash station 10 constructed in accordance with the invention and including a housing 11 having upper portion 12 and lower portion 13. Upper portion 12 includes sink 14, tool cleaning/storage area 15, and hinges 31, 32. Hinges 31, 32 permit the upper portion 12 to be pivoted in the direction of arrow A (FIG. 5) from the normal operative position of FIG. 1 to the open position illustrated by dashed lines 12A in FIG. 5. As will be described below, when upper portion 12 is in the open position, access is provided to service tanks 34, 35, 36 mounted inside housing 11. Station 10 is utilized to clean tools used in painting, in applying dry wall compound, and in laying concrete. Station 10 can also, when appropriate, be utilized to clean tools used in applying stucco or flooring.

Upper portion 12 includes side 17. Lower portion 13 includes side 16 and front 18.

Dashed lines 19 in FIG. 2 indicate a flexible hose that can be mounted on housing 11 to receive and dispense water from a tank 34 mounted in housing 11. Hose 19 can be utilized to clean a “bazooka” tool that is used to apply dry wall paste, or can be utilized to clean any other desired tool.

FIG. 6 illustrates the land in a residential subdivision that is under construction. The present primary focus of the invention is residential or commercial subdivisions in which homes or buildings are under construction. Once construction is completed in a subdivision, the apparatus and methods of the invention ordinarily are no longer required or necessary. If, however, a subdivision that was previously constructed is being renovated, painted, etc. then the methods and apparatus of the invention likely would have application. As used herein, a residence subdivision comprises an area of land on which one hundred or more single family homes are constructed or being constructed. A commercial subdivision comprises an area or parcel of land on which one or more commercial buildings is being constructed. A commercial building is a building other than a single family home. By way of example, and not limitation, commercial buildings include apartments, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, power stations, and warehouses. By way of example, if a construction company owns a fifty square mile area, and begins to develop and build residential homes on only a one hundred acre area or subdivision in the fifty square mile area, then construction is deemed to be ongoing in the one hundred acre subdivision and not in the entire fifty square mile area. E.g., construction companies usually develop the fifty square mile area or other large area in steps or phases and do not begin to construct buildings simultaneously over the entire area.

In FIG. 6, each square or block 51 to 59 indicates an area of one acre. Each block 60 to 62 indicates an area of one-third acre. In the practice of the invention, it is deemed important to have a high density population of the tool wash stations 10 to insure that construction workers have ready access to a wash station 10 that will capture paint and other materials that are washed from tools at the tool wash station 10. Such a high density population requires an average of at least one tool wash station 10 per acre. Assuming that construction is ongoing in each area 51 to 62 of the subdivision of FIG. 6, there is an average of at least one tool wash station 10 per acre, even though areas 55 and 59 do not have a wash station 10.

The average population density of portable toilets per acre is at least one portable toilet per acre. As used herein, a portable toilet includes a single toilet seat. A portable toilet structure that contains two seats would for purposes of the invention be deemed to be two portable toilets; a portable toilet structure that contains three seats would for purposes of the invention be deemed to be three portable toilets; etc.

One particularly desirable application of the tool wash station 10 of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 and consists of utilizing the tool wash station 10 in combination with a portable toilet 30 both importantly to serve as ballast for the portable toilet 30 and to combine at a single location the ability to utilize a portable toilet and a tool wash station 10.

Tool wash station 10 can simply be placed adjacent a portable toilet 30 without connecting or anchoring the tool wash station 10 to the toilet 30. It is, however, preferred that wash station 10 be connected to toilet 30 with connectors 40 that attach wash station 10 to a wall of the toilet 30. Alternatively, or additionally, the wash station 10 can be mounted on skids 23, 24 (FIG. 4) that are secured to the skids 25, 26 of the portable toilet 30. In FIG. 4, the skids 23 and 24 of a tool wash station 10 are spaced apart the same distance as the skids 25 and 26 of a portable toilet. Consequently, skid 24 can be placed in registration and alignment with skid 26 and the skids 24, 26 interconnected with a plate or bracket 27. Skids 23 and 25 are similarly in alignment and can be similarly interconnected.

In contrast, in FIG. 5, the skids 23 and 24, while still spaced apart, are closer together than skids 25 and 26 and, as a result, skids 23 and 24 slide in between skids 25 and 26. Skid 24 is connected to skid 26 by bolt 28. Skid 23 is similarly connected to skid 25. Skids 23 and 24 of a wash station 10 can be oriented in any desired manner and connected to skids 25 and 26 of a toilet 30 in any desired manner. Skids 23 and 25 may consist of a single long skid and skids 24 and 26 may likewise consist of a single long skid so wash station 10 and toilet 30 can be mounted together on two skids.

In an alternate construction, each corner of station 10 is provided with a vertically oriented internally threaded downwardly opening. A skid or other structural member can be bolted to the station 10 by (1) directing the externally threaded leg of a bolt upwardly through a vertical opening formed in the skid and (2) turning the externally threaded leg into the internally threaded opening. The head of the bolt bears against the bottom of the skid and presses and secures the skid against the bottom of the station 10.

As is depicted in FIG. 5, wash station 10 preferably includes a faucet 33 and a foot operated pedal 41 that pumps 42 water from a fresh water tank 34 to and through facet 33 in the manner indicated by arrow B. A manually operated pump or an electric or other pump can, if desired, be utilized in place of or in addition to the foot operated pump. The foot operated pump is preferred because it makes the wash station 10 self contained without requiring an on board source of electricity or other motive power.

Water that exits faucet 33 is used to wash tools in sink 14 or in another tool cleaning area 15. The spent water flows out through the sink drain into waste water tank 35 in the manner indicated by arrow C. Other tanks 36 can, if desired, be mounted in or on housing 11. Tanks 34, 35, 36 can be positioned inside or outside housing 11 in any desired arrangement. Faucet 33 can, as indicated by dashed lines 70, be located inside and not extend above sink 14. Positioning faucet 33 inside 70 the sink facilitates stacking one station 10 on top of the other to facilitate transport of multiple stations 10. Stations 10 are preferably sized such that when one station 10 is stacked on top of another station, the height of the two stacked stations does not exceed the height of a portable toilet 30.

After upper portion 12 is pivoted to the position indicated by dashed lines 12A in FIG. 5, a hose 37 can be inserted in tank 35 to suction waste water/material in the manner indicated by arrow D to a waste water reservoir 38 in a truck or other location. Hose 37 can also utilized to pump, in the manner indicated by arrow E, fresh water from a source of water 39 into the fresh water tank 34. If appropriate, material can similarly be removed from or delivered into tank 36.

Tank 34 holds at least thirty of water, preferably at least fifty gallons of water, most preferably at least seventy-five gallons of water.

Tank 35 holds at least fifty gallons of water and other material (i.e., paint cleaned from tools), preferably holds at least seventy-five gallons of water and other material, and most preferably holds at least one hundred gallons of water and other material.

It is important to note that many hand washing stations that are replete in the prior art are not satisfactory in the practice of the invention. Station 10 must, practically speaking, be able to wash tools. Consequently, the depth F of sink 14 is greater than six inches, preferably greater than eight inches, and most preferably greater than ten inches to make cleaning tools practical. Further, the length and width of the sink are presently thirty-two and twenty inches. The width of the sink preferably should be at least twenty inches; the length at least twenty inches. Station 20 also preferably includes an edge in the sink that can be utilized to scrap paint off brushes and other tools.

The shape of the sink drain can vary as desired, but the sink drain is preferably oval and is large enough to permit a conventional paint roller (or other roller of desired size) to be inserted through the center of the drain and pressed against a narrower end of the drain while the roller is pulled out from the drain. In this manner, one end of the oval drain scraps water and paint off the roller. Sink 14 can include multiple drains to reduce the likelihood that sink 14 will become clogged. A toothed comb is also desirably fixedly (or movably) mounted in sink 14 or another tool cleaning area 15 in wash station 10. The comb is sized to permit paint brushes to be drawn through the comb to remove paint and other material from the brushes.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, it is desired that the footprint 21 of a wash station 10 be identical to the footprint 22 of a portable toilet 30. When a wash station 10 and portable toilet 30 each extend over and cover an equivalent area of ground, this facilitates transport of a wash station(s) 10 with a portable toilet(s) 30. It is also desirable that a station 10 and toilet 30 each be mounted on skids so that a fort lift can readily move each. If a wash station 10 or portable toilet 30 include skids, the footprint comprises the generally rectangular area in which the skids and station 10 or toilet 30, as the case may be, lie.

Various constructions of portable toilet 30 are well known and typically include at least a toilet seat, tank of liquid beneath the toilet seat, toilet paper, and air vents at or near the top of toilet 30. A urinal and/or wash sink can also be included inside the toilet 30. Portable toilets 30 typically have walls fabricated from a polymer-fiberglass material and include vertically oriented side walls that, in a horizontal plane, circumscribe a substantially square or rectangular area. The invention can be utilized with a portable toilets of any desired shape and dimension and construction. 

1. A residential construction subdivision to minimize contamination of storm water by paint on tools utilized during ongoing construction, said subdivision (a) extending over an area of at least five acres; (b) including at least one building structure under construction in said subdivision; (c) including an average portable toilet density of at least one portable toilet per acre; (d) including an average paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning station density of at least one station per acre, said paint—dry wall compound—concrete cleaning station including (i) a sink, (ii) a fresh water tank, (iii) a waste water tank, (Iv) a faucet in fluid communication with said fresh water tank, (v) a foot operated pump to direct water from said fresh water tank to said sink.
 2. A construction subdivision to minimize contamination of storm water during ongoing construction, said subdivision (a) extending over an area of at least five acres; (b) including at least one building structure under construction in said subdivision; (c) including an average portable toilet density of at least one portable toilet per acre, each of said portable toilets including ballast comprising a paint—dry wall compound—concrete tool cleaning station including (i) a sink, (ii) a fresh water tank including at least two hundred pounds of water, (iii) a waste water tank, (iv) a faucet in fluid communication with said fresh water tank, and (v) a pump to direct water from said fresh water tank to said sink. 